because i have a tough time talking right now. to be able to come back from where we were, to be able to take the western division, i mean i was just thrilled with the other night, let alone tonight. so this is pretty amazing season. you don't see this happen too often. >> everybody took part of it this time. everybody took a part of it this time. we went around. and it's a big thing to celebrate wit the fans. they came out. they showed us how it feels right here in oakland. and we're very appreciative. it was simply amazing. >> i dreamed all this week, and even a couple of weeks ago. i always believed we could do it. you know, when we left texas, it was going to be tough. but i still kept believing. and it's just -- in front of the home crowd, and awesome crowd out here today. it's just -- it's unbelievable feeling right now. just feel the energy out here. it's crazy. >> reporter: and after the champagne celebration is

complete in the clubhouse, the a's will get out the suitcases. they are hitting the road to start off the play-offs. but they don't know who they will be playing or where they'll be going. i don't think it matters to anyone suiting up in the green and gold. they're just happy to be in the 2012 play-off season. guys? >> kate we can tell you were part of the celebration. your hair drenched in champagne. thank you so much, live from oakland. and congrats again to the a's, a.l. west champions. the bay area is celebrating what has turned out to be a magical season. you can get complete coverage of the game, celebrations around the possible play-off scenarios on nbcbayarea.com. and of course we will have more tonight at 11:00. now to a story you'll see only on nbc bay area. a predawn raid. before the sun was even up, the s.w.a.t. team descended on the south bay. damian trujillo received a tip on this operation. he is live at the blossom hill apartments in south san jose where one of the raids took police. dame ran? >> reporter: these apartments are only a half a block away from oak grove high school. the fbi said it arrested two

people on federal drug charges. fbi agents in suits were at the blossom hill apartments after 5:00 this morning. here they're arresting one of two men. they're facing federal charges for conspiracy to distribute meth. >> today the fbi, along with our local partners conducted a number of law enforcement actions, interdictions across the san jose area. >> reporter: the fbi says its gang task force in the south bay led the operation. the agency won't say if the suspects are part of a larger organized group or gang, but agents needed help from neighboring police departments to make the arrests. >> again, i can't comment on the number of officers that were out there. but there was an appropriate number of tactical personnel, fbi s.w.a.t. personnel involved in several interdictions, in addition to numerous others across the san jose area. >> reporter: neighbors at the blossom hill apartments say they're not surprised by the early morning raid.

>> i mean it's not the first time it happened before. they came. they took out some people from here, from these apartments. we don't know. we don't know why or what happened. >> reporter: sources tell us the area is populated with parolees and probationers, which is part of the reason that esa says she doesn't know any of her neighbors. she says she would rather keep her children indoors to avoid problems. but she says she is glad the fbi took away some suspected trouble makers. >> it will be a good thing that they take them. like especially from this area, because all the ones that live here, we all have kids. we have to walk out, you know, with them to school and bring them back. it's scary when things like that are going on. >> reporter: i've been at these apartments for several hours now, and i've seen a flock of kids just trickling into the apartments. it baffles the mind that these serious -- suspected serial drug dealers are right in their midst. i understand that the san jose s.w.a.t. team called merge also conducted its own separate raids

today. however, sjpd is being tight-lipped about who they were looking for and why. i'm damian trujillo, nbc bay area news. >> okay, thanks, damian. an early morning fire forced a berkeley family out of their home, and police officers into action to help firefighters. this cell phone video shows the fire at its peak. it happened at a home near college and ash beach just after midnight. five people were inside, including a woman in a wheelchair. police officers on scene rushed in to help. >> i think the police officers who removed her reported that the heat and smoke were just above their heads. so they entered into an atmosphere which would be challenging. >> reporter: and they were heros? >> in my mind, they are heroes. >> fortunately no one was hurt, but the back of the home was severely damaged. part of the roof and second floor actually collapsed. fire crews say they will have to excavate the back of the home to find the source of this fire.

today the family of the late chris stevens announced a special memorial service for the u.s. ambassador killed in libya last month. it will take place at san francisco's city hall on october 16th. the family has invited a list of dignitaries, including former secretary of state george shultz and senator dianne feinstein. stevens went to piedmont high school and on to uc berkeley for college and uc hastings in san francisco for law school. the public is also invited to the service. but the city hall rotunda only holds about 700 people. stevens was 52 years old. the san francisco bay is once again filled with the best sailors in the world as the america's cup series is back. that's where we find nbc bay area's laurence scott who is once again an honorary skipper. >> we are on the bay with team korea, victorious today in the america's cup series match racing qualifiers. the youngest skipper by far in the world series competitions here on the bay this weekend.

tell me something. what a thrill, not just competing in your first race, but winning your first race. how did it go? >> it's pretty awesome. we managed to get a good start. and we kind of trying to throw it away a little. we managed to hold it together. and all the guys worked really hard and we came away with the win. >> i want to tell you guys something. not only is he a two-time olympian, but he is 21 years old right now. he competed at the games in london, winning a silver medal in the 49er class. and then back in 2008, competed in china at the age of 17. the olympics twice. what did you get out of the olympics that you bring here to the bay in the america's cup competition? >> sailing with the pressure. you kind of yeah, it's one of the things you spend all your time and you just build up to one thing. it's pretty much four years of your life. i mean the pressure in that far

outweighs what i feel in this moment. . >> tell me something. when did you get into this how young were you? and what made you want to do this? >> i got into sailing where i just grew up. i was always around the water. and fishing, surfing, whatever. started racing and got a few -- >> we're navigating right now. he is talking and navigating. sorry to interrupt you. >> a few events. and one thing led to another. and got to the games pretty young. got a good result. >> remember the name, peter burling. thank you so much for having us here with you on the boat here. we totally appreciate it. i got to tell you something. this is the team to watch. this is the skipper to watch. keep watching america's cup competition all this week through sunday. the super sunday fleet race

finals. we'll send it back to you in the studios. >> and it looks like you've got the best seat. thanks, laurence. coming up next at 5:00, they've been talking on the campaign trail for more than a year now. now it's time to debate face-to-face. a live report from denver as president obama and governor romney prepare to square off. and a rough day for hewlett-packard. what ceo meg whitman said that scared investors. and good afternoon. i'm jeff ranieri in the nbc bay area weather center. this time yesterday we had 107 in gilroy. today temperatures starting to drop. a lot more comfortable outside, with anywhere from 78 in san jose to 86 in livermore. we're going to talk more about this temperature trend and some big-time changes for your weekend. even our next chance of showers in just a few minutes.

50 minutes and counting. the first debate of the 2012

race for the white house starts at the top of the hour. tonight's theme domestic policy. the 90-minute debate will be divided into six timed segments of approximately 15 minutes each. president obama will get the first question, and mitt romney will get the last word. for the very latest, let's check in with nbc's steve handelsman live at the university of denver. good evening, steve. >> reporter: janelle, thanks. good evening from a suddenly blustery cold denver, where the gold tonight is political substance. when this debate gets started in less than an hour here at the university of denver, moderator jim lehrer will demand the studio audience not boo or hiss or applaud. no distractions, he'll say. so the voters, many, many millions watching from home, will get to concentrate on what these political competitors have to say. more than 60 million americans could watch tonight's debate. >> i've made up my mind. but i'd still like to see both of the candidates sweat a little

bit. >> reporter: president obama looked relaxed this week. mitt romney too, but he knows he has to change perceptions tonight. more voters now see romney negatively than see him positively. and that loses elections. >> only two presidential candidates in the last 20 years of "the wall street journal"/nbc polling have had a net negative image at this point and one of them lost, george h.w. bush. and romney needs to improve that dynamic. >> reporter: romney got good news from three battlegrounds. in florida he is now behind by just one point. still way down in ohio. but in virginia, romney is down by just two. with a lot on the line in past debates, romney is doing well. >> going up against mitt romney is not a fun thing. he has the fax. he drills you. he stays. he is tenacious. >> reporter: and sometimes aggressive. >> the idea that i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. don't use a term like that. >> reporter: aides admit barack obama in debates can sound like

a professorial no-it-all. >> i understand the broader point that senator clinton has been trying to make over the last several weeks. >> reporter: tonight's format is from 2008. two podiums, moderator jim lehrer, 90 minutes, no breaks. a back and forth on domestic issues with possible fireworks. >> i think you're going to see both of them actually be more aggressive than either of their campaigns have predicted because the stakes are pretty high. >> reporter: the contest could get even tighter after tonight's clash. but many here in denver agree, this race could be determined by this first debate. live from denver, i'm steve handelsman, nbc bay area news. >> it could be a very revealing night. thank you so much. be sure to watch tonight's debate live here on nbc bay area. it begins at 6:00. investors voted with their wallets today, and the result was not pretty for hewlett-packard. hp's ceo meg whitt man admitted

they're still struggling and the turnaround will like take years. shares of stock fell 13% today to its lowest level in nine years. hp is this year's worst perform attorney dow. a san jose councilman is helping a south bay family find their missing puppy. when burglars brock into marissa's home last summer that. >> took her jewelry. her south san jose home was burglarized again on monday, and this time the bad guys took her 10-year-old daughter's new puppy, a yorkie mix named miko. councilmember says san jose's criminals are getting bolder. >> now they know that we don't have a burglary unit. they know we don't have the resources to follow up. and that's why this is significant. >> when we came and we found out the only thing i could think of is how am i going to tell my 10-year-old? what mother wants to tell their children that part of their life has been taken away? >> whatever you do, can you send him back?

that would mean so much to me. >> marissa is offering her piggy bank as a reward, along with $6,000 put up by colera and san jose police departments. let's check in with chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. >> that's right. some big-time changes slowly starting to occur. you may have felt it just a little bit. a little bit of that onshore wind starting to creep back to the bay area. most notably, look at this marine layer. up to 1500 feet offshore, moving in from santa cruz now, starting to push into parts of the north bay, and also the golden gate gap. so a stark contrast for those 90s we had yesterday. and this cooling fog is going to be stay with us for us the next three to four days. let's get a look at some of the temperature jumps. they have been phenomenal here. from gilroy 107 yesterday to 87 for today. livermore from 102 to 94. south san jose from that record-setting heat, 97 to 92. and san francisco from an unbelievable 94 degrees down to

78. so let's get you into the current numbers right now. we're seeing the stark contrast of course near the coastline with that fog. it's starting to build up. a lot more comfortable out here tonight with anywhere from 60s and 70s. also dropping to 78 in san jose and 86 currently in livermore. it's down here in the south bay, anywhere from gilroy down to downtown san jose, where temperatures are seeing really the most dramatic changes. let's bring you outside of the live hd sky camera tonight. and this is something we did not see. yesterday the fog already starting to lower on in. we can't even rule out some drizzle for tonight. a few airport delays as we're getting this classic pattern back that we should have this time of the year. so for the america's cup, that's going to be great news for the boaters. the fog is going to help to get things stirred up. but here we go as we head throughout the morning hours thursday, friday, and saturday. we'll have the low clouds and a little bit of cloud cover lingering all the way through the afternoon. of course, you get more on those events at nbcbayarea.com. as far as the larger weather

pattern goes, here is the next game-changer for us. this is a trough of low pressure. it's been here three to four days. it's going out in the pacific without any kind of road map. but at our best guess right now, it's going to continue to move up against the coastline. the onshore cooling breeze with us, not only for thursday, but for friday, saturday, and also for sunday. so temperatures are going to continue to go down. look at 50s and 60s at the coastline. and anywhere from 70s to 80s here from the bay back to the interior valleys. even by friday, we'll look at potentially quite a bit of drizzle possible there for the morning hours. we'll start off tomorrow morning with fog in the north bay. also on the coastline down into parts of the south bay. then as we head throughout the afternoon hours, it's going to be one of the days the cloud cover is going to hang out right off the coastline. as america's cup gets going, we'll keep that fog there right through out san francisco. daytime highs just dramatically colder for us. 79 in san jose. 71 in milpitas. also 75 in sunnyvale. right about near average. 27 in the castro valley.

75 in danville. 81 in livermore and 60s back by the bay from alameda to hayward. san francisco 65. 67 in berkeley and 72 in oakland. how about your three-day forecast? temperatures continue to go down all the way through saturday, some upper 70s. that cooler trend even stay with us on sunday with a chance of fog and some drizzle. as we head throughout monday and tuesday next week, that's right we have tucked it in there, a chance of a few spotty showers. it's not a major storm system. but it definitely looks like the first shot at some fall showers. so this weatherman is happy to see that we could get some showers next week. >> so am i. i have been overheated. >> get the umbrella first and then the jacket. >> be prepared. council chamber chaos. angry protesters clash with security at oakland's city hall. and that's not the only bay area city dealing with security issues at public meetings. nbc bay area's jodi hernandez is live in oakland with more on

what is being done to provide safety and keep the city's agenda on track. jodi? >> reporter: the city of oakland has seen tempers flaring at recent council meetings. they have taken a number of steps to try to keep things orderly, including bringing in 16 police officers to last night's meeting. but things still got heated. council security isn't just an issue here in oakland. >> we are not leaving here without being dragged out of here. >> reporter: last night's oakland city council meeting once again got heated. city staff closed the gallery and kept people who came to protest on a deadly officer-involved shooting from inside already filled to capacity chambers. >> they were very boisterous, and very negative. you know, yelling and shouting down the council members. because you don't know what could or wouldn't happen given, you know, the nature of the

issue that people are there to talk about. >> reporter: council president larry reed says meetings at city hall have been getting increasingly tense. two weeks ago, he was forced to adjourn a meeting early. and it's not just in oakland. vallejo has seen tensions rise at city hall too as protester there's have forced the mayor and others to cut several meetings short. last weekend's torching of mayor osby davis' private law office has just added to the tension, prompting some in city government, including the mayor to ask is enough being done? >> i think that if there are those who are desirous of hurting myself or any council members, we probably should start look at that and take it a little more serious. >> there are a number of things that could be addressed, obviously. we haven't felt the need to do so in vallejo. and we probably at least need to think about it. metal detectors are very common

in government buildings. >> reporter: councilmember reed says he fears the growing sense of anger expressed at city hall could easily turn violent if more isn't done to protect city leaders and the public. >> it's just a matter of time before something really seriously happens here in this building that i work in. it is -- you know, i feel it in my bones that something is going to happen. >> now reed says the council has discussed bringing in metal detectors, but not everybody is on board with that idea. it's a discussion that is also taking place. in vallejo. reporting live in oakland, i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> thanks, jodi. and still to come tonight, new information on the birth rates in the u.s., and how the economy is playing a role. back in a moment.

tonight in health matters, the u.s. birth rate continues to fall, and expert says one reason a weak economy.

last year's 1% drop in the number of births does not sound like a lot, but it was the lowest number of new babies since 1998. expert says families have put off having kids or expanding their families because of the high cost of raising children. the birth rate for single women, hispanics and african-americans have all dropped. but demographic with the biggest change was teenagers. the birth rate for girls 15 to 19 was the lowest it's been in more than seven decades. the first new research in years on menopause and hormone replacement is out and it's potentially good news. starting low-dose treatment early in menopause can make women feel better and does not seem to raise heart risk. but the four-year study did not reduce the risk of breast cancer. even with the new information, doctors aren't changing advice. use hormones only for severe menopausal symptoms at the lowest dose for the least amount of time possible. and we'll be back in a moment.

the amazing a's, they win the a.l. west today, beating the texas rangers. and we have some of the best moments from today's game. >> coco, ball game! western division, the oakland a's have shocked the rangers and the baseball world, and they are the al western division championship. unbelievable! >> unpredictable. >> and that's going to do it for us. thank you so much for joining us. "nightly news" is next, followed by the presidential debates at six is:00.